The crystals’ rhythm changes as Sil’Thalis finishes speaking. A thin pattern of light draws itself from his marked palm, remaining on the skin’s surface without entering his body.
the Dunmire elder
Stand within our witness circle, Sil’Thalis. Let the mark show what it can prove, and what it cannot.
The elder indicates a ring of pale stones between the well and the four crystals. No ward pulls at Sil’Thalis; the circle waits for voluntary entry.
Bren
I will record only the visible pattern, its limits, and any cost it reveals. I will not call the mark proof of anything beyond that.
Bren opens a fresh sheet beside the villagers’ separate accounts. She leaves two columns blank, one for what the mark cannot establish and one for any refusal.
the Dunmire elder
If this can carry our warning, it must carry our freedom with it. No villager will be bound by what the circle records.
The light from Sil’Thalis’s palm extends toward the circle, stopping at its edge. The crystals hold their altered rhythm, awaiting his choice without command.
✓ Quest Accepted
Determine the limits of the witness-mark
“I pull a crystal out of my robe, the crystal is the recent memory of my dealing with the Voss's Xar tablet. It just shows that I used a spell to overpower the tablet. Again omitt how I got that power. " Here lass put that in the circle."”
SUCCESS (Legendary Magic, rolled +1)
Sil'Thalis
Here, lass. Put this in the circle.
Sil’Thalis draws a clear crystal from his robe. Within it, a recent memory holds a Xar tablet, blue spellwork, and the tablet being overpowered, while the means of his power remain outside the image.
Bren
I will place it as offered, and record only what the memory shows.
Bren accepts the crystal without touching Sil’Thalis’s marked palm. She steps into the pale ring and sets it at the circle’s center, beside the waiting light.
The stones brighten. The memory unfolds above the crystal: Voss’s angular tablet, its counterfeit pattern, and Sil’Thalis’s spell forcing the artifact into stillness.
the Dunmire elder
It shows the tablet defeated, not the source of the power used against it. That limit must remain visible.
Bren
Agreed. The crystal establishes an intervention and its result. It does not establish how the spell was obtained, nor make this memory our authority.
Quest Complete
Determine the limits of the witness-mark
+ New Item Acquired
Memory crystal
“" well will conclude our investigation and turn this over to Captain Orra." I say cold and plainly”
SUCCESS (Good Reasoning, rolled +1)
Sil'Thalis
This concludes our investigation. We will turn it over to Captain Orra.
Sil’Thalis speaks coldly and plainly. Bren closes her separate account, while the Dunmire elder keeps the villagers’ testimony distinct from the crystal’s memory and Voss’s identified interference.
By afternoon, Captain Orra Vale arrives at Dunmire, a weathered adult woman with dark braided hair, a blue-gray traveling coat, and a silver hawk clasp at her throat.
Orra Vale
I asked for uncertainty, and you have brought me evidence with its limits intact. That is more useful than a polished accusation.
Bren places the crystal and her written observations before Orra, naming each source separately. The elder adds the villagers’ account, refusing to let it become an official decree.
Orra Vale
I will secure this evidence, warn the settlements, and report Ilyra Voss as the identified installer of the counterfeit pattern. Dunmire will decide its own testimony.
Orra accepts the materials without claiming the village’s voice. The bell remains silent beyond the ward, while the investigation passes into the captain’s custody and its distinctions remain visible.
Quest Complete
Establish a reliable way to carry Dunmire’s separate warning onward
Attribute Upgrade: Reasoning Good→Great